A person such as a senior or someone recovering from a serious injury sometimes finds conventional items around the home awkward to use. Thus, there is a need for household devices that are modified to render such devices easier to use compared to the standard household devices.
The related art of interest describes various toilet seat handles, but none discloses the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,884, issued to Mantooth on Oct. 22, 2002 describes a lifting handle for a toilet seat, consisting of a plate-like flange which is said to be fastened to the underside of a toilet seat by screws, with a laterally projecting hand grip having top and bottom ribs in the form of closed loops. The '884 handles do not sit flush with respect to the bottom of the toilet seat thereby rendering the toilet seat to distortion when under load, i.e. when a user sits on the toilet seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,839, issued to Bigelow on Mar. 4, 1998 describes an apparatus for raising and lowering a toilet seat and toilet seat cover; the apparatus is said to comprise a pair of handle assemblies that respectively extend radially from the toilet seat and cover. Each handle assembly comprises a U-shaped bracket that is attached to the underside of the toilet seat or cover by screws or other suitable means. Each handle assembly is designed only to withstand the weight of the toilet seat or cover and is not designed to assist a person to sit on or get off a toilet seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,103, issued to Kreemer on May 12, 1998 describes a substantially annular toilet seat having a lifting surface that is said to remain sanitary throughout a range of toilet seat positions between a toilet bowl and a toilet tank. The toilet seat has what appears to be a protrusion that extends laterally outward from the toilet seat for lifting the toilet seat. The Kremmer U.S. Pat. No. '103 does not suggest or teach a handle or pair of handles designed to assist a person to sit on or get off a toilet seat.
In addition, a design patent to Snook (U.S. Des. 414,852, issued on Oct. 5, 1999) shows a toilet seat handle located at the front of a toilet seat. The Snook design probably allows a user to lift the toilet seat without actually touching the annular part of the toilet seat. Similarly, the NIFTY LIFTY™ and DaisyLift™ both advertise an attachable toilet seat handle that is said to provide a sanitary way to lift and lower a toilet seat.
Other U.S. patents or patent publications known to the inventor in the field of toilet seats and toilet seat handles are: U.S. Des. 417,723, U.S. Pub. No. 20010034901, U.S. Pub. No. 20040025234, U.S. Pub. No. 20040107486, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,525,492, 3,191,193, 3,783,455, 3,935,601, 4,951,324, 5,086,523, 5,341,519, 6,009,569, 6,385,782, 6,634,032, and 6,691,330.
Foreign patents or patent publications known to the inventor in the field of toilet seats and toilet seat handles are: JP10229956, JP11151182, and DE10025799.
None of the above patents and publications, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.